First published 2018
On an isolated island, three sisters live in rigid isolation, protected from the mainland's masculine violence by their father's strict rules and brutal survival rituals. When their father vanishes and two men and a boy unexpectedly wash ashore, their carefully constructed world begins to unravel. Grace, Lia, and Sky must confront strangers who represent both potential threat and unprecedented human contact, challenging everything they've been taught about survival, gender, and connection. As sexual tensions rise and sibling dynamics shift, the sisters face an impossible choice: retreat further into their programmed defenses or risk everything by engaging with these unexpected visitors. A psychological pressure cooker where survival depends on understanding—and potentially destroying—the very forces that shaped them.
Genres: fiction, dystopia, suspense, contemporary, psychological-thriller, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Island
Period: 21st-Century
248 pages · Hardcover · Hamish Hamilton
Content warnings: abuse, emotional-abuse, violence